The invention relates to a closure device.
A closure device of this type is provided for closing a through opening on a vehicle, for example in the region of the vehicle body. An interior space with a filling or connection opening is accessible via the through opening, it being possible for the through opening to be closed by way of a cover element. Said cover element can be adjusted on the vehicle between at least one closure position for closing the through opening and an open position for opening the through opening. The cover element of the closure device can therefore be, for example, a filler cap or a filler flap which covers or conceals an interior space which is provided on the vehicle body and within which a filler neck with a filling opening for a fuel tank is situated. In an analogous manner, a cover element can be formed by way of an adjustable covering or a cap, be formed around a through opening for access to a filling opening for filling a wiper water reservoir or to a connection opening for connecting a charging cable of an electric charging station for a battery drive of the vehicle.
In the case of closure devices which have been customary up to now, a separate closure element for closing the filling opening or connection opening has been provided in addition to a cover element. Thus, for example, a separate tank closure for sealing closure of the filling opening is as a rule provided in the case of a filler neck of a fuel tank, which tank closure has to be unscrewed from the filler neck after opening of the filler flap or the filler cap, in order for it to be possible to refill fuel via the filling opening. In the case of conventional closure devices, a plurality of hand movements are therefore necessary for a user, in order to make a filling opening or connection opening on the vehicle accessible. In order to increase the operating comfort, it has frequently been provided on vehicles in the meantime to adjust at least the cover element in a manner which is actuated by external force, for example by means of a spring drive or a hydraulic, pneumatic or electric drive motor. In this way, as a rule at least the adjusting of the cover element into its open position no longer has to take place manually.
It is proposed, furthermore, in DE 199 19 251 A1 to mechanically couple a cover element in the form of a displaceable filler flap to a closure element for closing a filling opening on a filler neck of the fuel tank, with the result that, when the filler flap is opened, the closure element is also automatically adjusted along with it and, as a result, the filling opening is opened. Here, the closure element is part of a valve device having a ball valve, with the result that the closure element is rotated when the filler flap is displaced as cover element. The closure element and the cover element in the form of the filler flap are formed in DE 199 19 251 A1 by two components which are separate from one another. Said components are coupled to one another, however, with the result that their adjusting movements influence one another mutually. A mechanical mechanism with at least one lever is provided here for coupling purposes. Although an increase in comfort in comparison with conventional closure devices is achieved by way of the closure device which is proposed in DE 199 19 251 A1, said closure device continues to have some disadvantages. For instance, the construction and assembly of the closure device is comparatively complicated, in particular, on account of the mechanical coupling which is provided via a mechanism, and is expensive and susceptible to faults on account of the multiplicity of necessary components.
Furthermore, DE 10 2009 058 864 B4 has disclosed providing a single sensor device on a closure device with a cover element in the form of a filler cap, which sensor device, once activated, controls firstly the opening of the filler cap and secondly the closing of the filler cap in a contactless manner. Here, the filler cap is opened when a person or an object has approached a proximity sensor of the sensor device to a defined distance. The closing takes place automatically when the person or the object moves away from the proximity sensor again.
A closure device of this type is susceptible to faults in some circumstances, since, for example, although an approach of a user to a filler cap first of all readily triggers its opening, the filler cap is already closed again if the user reaches for a pump nozzle and in the process moves too far away from the proximity sensor. Moreover, the sensor device cannot readily be accommodated on the adjustable filler cap itself, since the proximity sensor is also moved as a result of the adjustment of the filler cap and therefore possibly the influence of the vehicle body on the proximity sensor in the different adjusting positions has to be compensated for, in order to correctly control, in particular, the closing of the filler cap.